Richard King: Cattleman and Pioneer
When people think of Texas, one of the first images that come to mind are cattle and the cowboys that work them. Some of those cowboys amassed fortunes and assets that helped to write their names into the annals of history, but one of the great cattle barons achieved a status that is somewhat legendary. Richard King. Capt. King, as he was known during his steamboat days, soared from an indentured jewelry apprentice to the king of an empire. Forever immortalized through the town and ranch that bear his namesake, King lived up to his last name while establishing the King Ranch and, after his death, the town of Kingsville. The task of finding a Texan who hasn’t heard of the King Ranch or Kingsville would be difficult, but finding individuals who know the history of the man presents a far greater task.
Richard King was a naturalized Texan, born in the state of New York in 1824 (Cheeseman). He was not born into a wealthy family. His parents were poor Irish folk, doing their best to survive. For this reason, King’s parents contracted him to work for a jeweler in New York City. The jeweler abused King to the point where King slipped onto a ship heading south to escape a life of servitude to the abusive jeweler (KING RANCH). Heading south on the steamer, King could hardly fathom the decision he made as an 11 year old boy would alter his life forever.
King’s stowaway status soon came to an end, and he was employed as a crewmember on steamboats. Captains taught him to navigate the boats on rivers in Florida and Alabama, and his acute sense of learning gave way to him becoming a captain (KING RANCH). Capt. King plied the waters of Alabama until 1842. In that year he served aboard boa...
... middle of paper ...
...rted as a poor Irish apprentice, but he built an empire that still flourishes almost 130 years after his death.
Works Cited
Ashton, John. "KENEDY, MIFFLIN." 15 June 2010. Handbook of Texas Online. Web. 5 May 2014. .
Calvert, Robert A., Arnoldo De Leon and Gregg Cantrell. The History of Texas. 4th. Wheeling: Harlan Davidson, Inc., 2007. Print.
Cheeseman, Bruce S. "KING, RICHARD." 2 March 2011. Handbook of Texas Online. Web. 04 May 2014. .
Graham, Don. "The Secret History." Texas Monthly nd December 2002: 1-5. Web. 3 May 2014. .
KING RANCH. n.d. Web. 03 May 2014. .
McKenna, Verna J. "YTURRIA, FRANCISO." 08 March 2011. Handbook of Texas Online. Web. 5 May 2014.
Seguin, Juan N. The Personal Memoirs of John N. Seguin. San Antonio: The Ledger Book and Job Office, 1858.
Eibling, Harold H., et al., eds. History of Our United States. 2nd edition. River Forest, Ill: Laidlaw Brothers, 1968.
Gerald Vizenor, Thomas King, and Sherman Alexie. Diss. U of Texas: Arlington, 2012. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
Bauer, K. Jack. “Mexican War,” Handbook of Texas Online, last modified June 15, 2010, accessed May 2, 2014, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qdm02
Tibbetts, John. "Environmental Health Perspectives." January 2006. Louisiana-A lesson in Nature Appreciation Vol. 114, Number 1. 4 December 2010 .
Texas Contractor Austin Bureau (2006, January 2). [title of article]. Retrieved from http://www.acppubs.com/article/ca6294091.html, on October 4, 2007.
J.R. Edmonson, The Alamo Story, From Early History to Current Conflicts (Plano, TX. Republic of Texas Press 2000)
Thibodeau, David and Leon Whiteson. “A Place Called Waco.” Public Affairs Books <Http://www.Publicaffairsbooks.com/books/apl.html> April 2, 2000.
Texas has a total land area of 261,914 square miles- making it the second largest state in the United States. Combined with a diverse geography, Texas has one of the most varied climates of any state. As the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere increases year by year, causing an increase in the Earth’s average overall temperature, changes in our climate are inevitable. We will investigate how those changes will affect the life of the everyday Texan - from our water resources, to our cities and why they are important issues that need to be addressed by our society.
Moses Austin was an American merchant and lead miner who brought national attention to America’s mineral wealth. He was such an interesting person I decided to do my Famous Texan project on him.
Much of what Texas is today is because of the people who settled her land. Crafts such as quilting and the Texas Star pattern, dance like the Cotton-Eyed Joe and even the way Texans still hunt today can be traced back to the Middle Ages.
Brinkley, Alan American History A Survey, Volume I: To 1877, New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2003. pg. 101-122, 209-213.
Phillips, Charles. "December 29, 1890." American History 40.5 (2005): 16. MAS Ultra - School Edition. EBSCO. Web. 6 Apr. 2015.
...ute of Food and Agricultural Sciences." Monroe County Extension Office – Solutions for Your Life - UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. 2011. Web. 19 Mar. 2011.
of the book. Eds. James H. Pickering and Jeffery D. Hoeper. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice, 1027-28. Mullen, Edward J. & Co.